MOScout Daily Update: Special Session Starts - Formula Task Force Kicks Off - New Gun Group Formed and more…
Special Session Kicks Off
The legislature will convene today to kick-off Governor Mike Kehoe’s special session. I don’t think anyone knows how this will unfold.
Before gaveling in, Republican senators will caucus this afternoon. My guess is there won’t be any consensus in that room, but they’ll agree to move forward, and try to find their footing as they go.
On that path, I assume they’ll introduce three bills today corresponding to the three components of Kehoe’s call: stadium subsidies, storm relief, and capital projects. And those bills will evolve as they try to lasso in enough senators to get to 18 votes – and prevent a filibuster. But this isn’t simple. As I have previously written, there are a lot of moving pieces.
One MOScouter gave this initial assessment of the vote totals in the Senate:
As if stands now – No Pressure or Deals: Yes- 10; No- 24
With Labor Pressure: Yes- 13; No- 21
With Labor Pressure and a Kehoe Deal: Yes- 18; No- 16
With a Cindy O / FC deal: Yes- 21; No-13
· In this view a “Kehoe deal” could include appointment promises to some termed senators, or additional storm money, capital projects money. And a “Cindy O / FC” deal gets the Freedom Caucus onboard for IP reform PQ promise or something like that.
· I’m not sold that labor will be a big force here. I don’t see them wanting to help Senate leadership that just screwed them in session with a PQ. And the construction jobs will be filled regardless whether the stadium is built on the east or west side of State Line road.
And
The latest development, over the weekend, a couple Senate Freedom Caucus members seemed to take issue with the Royals celebrating Pride Month. While Team Kehoe will try to steer the economic issue of retaining the teams away from culture war entanglements, it could become one more talking point on the Senate floor.
Gay rights are supported by a majority of Americans, but there has been some retrenchment in sentiment in the last few years within the Republican Party. This graph is from Gallup polling.
The Other Big Kick-off
The Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force will hold its first meeting today. This is the group that Governor Mike Kehoe has tasked with coming up with a draft rewrite of the foundation formula. Their report is due December, 2026.
See the task force members here.
And
EducationPlus – a nonprofit educational service agency with over 60 member school districts from the St. Louis metropolitan area – put together a data-packed PowerPoint looking a different angles of the formula. Download it here.
A sample of some interesting ones…
New Gun Group Formed
Missouri Sheriff’s Constitutional Firearms Alliance Inc was formed. It’s a nonprofit. According to its filing with the Secretary of State’s office, its mission includes “promoting firearm safety, constitutional literacy, and responsible gun ownership; educating the public on the importance of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution; supporting legislation and public policy aligned with law enforcement and pro-constitutional organizations to preserve individual rights; promoting youth firearm safety programs and public outreach initiatives; advocating for the enforcement of laws that bring career criminals to justice for firearm violations.”
· Its registered agent is lobbyist Rich AuBuchon.
eMailbag on Senate Pickle
Just doing a dump from my inbox last week and weekend…
· [O’Laughlin] taking to Facebook to explain herself and to launch an attack on the Dems for their actions is a sign of insecurity and desperation. She [messed] up by using the PQ on Prop A. I can see using it on Amendment 3; the pro-lifers own the Republican Party. But using it on a statute that you could have easily fixed with free and fair discussion was wrong and I predict if the Pro-Prop A forces put their language ion the ballot for the constitution, it will pass again and could impact some Senate elections. Good analysis!
· Your typos are consistently horrendous. And your takes sometimes baffle me. But your analysis of Webber/FItzwater and what happened in the Senate was spot-on.
· The Senate Republican caucus should encourage their leader to put her sword away and put on her Statesman hat and pull the senate (and thereby all of its members) back out of the mud before permanent damage to that chamber occurs.
· Read Cindy's rant on Facebook as she clutched her pearls in shock. The Democrats using and following the system and the rules of the Senate… Not sure what "nearly every Pro Tem" has used the PQ means, as that is not factually true, or relevant.
· The message coming out of regular session was that Senate Republicans refused to compromise and had to fire a missile to get their legislation passed. If moving for the PQ was considered a missile, Beck and Webber released every nuke in the arsenal at once… Senate Democrats jeopardized all legislation yet to be signed by the Governor, including the operating budget. It’s hard to see a world in which this move would result in a positive outcome for the Democrats…
· If Cindy keeps doing this, she's going to create fractures within her own party, because you're going to have moderates very upset that the minority isn't being recognized, in my opinion.
· This is an abject failure by Senate Leadership. They appeased a freshman senator… without even holding a caucus -knowing it wouldn’t be the majority of the majority’s will to PQ the minority party on the A3 repeal at the expense of the stadium bill and collegiality moving forward. Look no further than Senate leadership for losing the teams to Kansas.
Help Wanted
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry seeks Political Director. “The Missouri Chamber is looking for a dynamic and hard-working individual to serve as the organization’s first-ever Political Director. This new position will spearhead a comprehensive program to bolster the business community’s strength in the political arena. Duties will include fundraising, voter education efforts, polling, coalition building, research, and candidate recruitment. This position will also lead efforts on key ballot measures impacting the business community. Experience required in political campaigns, fundraising, and public speaking. This will be an in-house full-time position, salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Please e-mail resumes to bcrouse@mochamber.com.”
Lobbyist Registrations
Dylan DelliSanti added Institute For Justice.
Bradley Pryor added Lincoln Crossing Community Improvement District; and deleted Rolwes Construction Inc.
Jean Evans added J & J Ventures.
Ron Berry added Rimco, Inc.
Linda Rallo deleted Aligned.
Health Clarkston, Doug Nelson, and Michael James Henderson deleted Krey Distributing Co. LLC.
Salvatore Panettiere deleted Kansas City Royals Baseball Club.
Zach Pollock deleted Wasser and Associates LLC, and Midwest Natural Fiber.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Republican Party - $25,000n from Growth and Opportunity PAC.
Page PAC - $10,000 from McBride & Son Properties LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Chris Lonsdale.